Back in Western Australia
After a good but bumpy flight, Rod and Liz were there to pick us up. We headed to the Swan Brewery for lunch, after a beer which costs $25.00 shout we checked the menu and quickly moved on. We had a delightful lunch at Raffles, very nice. We spent the evening at Rod & Liz’s in our caravan, nice to be back. Next day we moved into Karringup Resort , into bed early after setting up, doing some shopping and generally organising ourselves. On Tuesday we took a Swan River Cruise with Rod & Liz, a very nice day, looking at all the million dollar homes along the river. After the cruise we had a few beers at the Shag Inn, I guess you can workout by now, Rod doesn’t mind a beer or two. John spent the next four days playing golf, so I caught up on some rest.
Weekend 15 & 16th was a very busy one. Dinner with Trevor & Kay and Paul & Lyn (some golf buddies) . Sunday we had lunch and spent the afternoon with Alex & Alysson (a couple we met in Broome).
Week Commencing 17.01.11
Monday 17.01.11 We took ourselves on a road trip to Toodayay, Northam and York. A really nice day in the hills.
Tuesday 18.01.11 – We went to the recycle place and purchased ourselves another $5.00 bike. We took an hour ride on our new bikes. Enjoyed a nice meal with Rod & Liz.
Wednesday 19.01.11 – Woke up with a dose of the flu, not happy. John and I went for a bike ride, still feeling unwell.
Thursday 20.01.11 – Stayed home and rested today. John went off to play golf at Hartfield.
Friday 21.01.11 – Had a fantastic day on the Swan River. Paul & Trevor took us on their boat, we went down to Fremantle and then back past Perth City and up to the Swan Valley. We pulled into a nice beach where we had a great lunch. I could not thank Paul enough for his kindness, we had a great time.
Saturday 22.01.11 – Still coughing and feel unwell. John went off to golf. A very quiet day.
Sunday 23.01.11 – We drove down to Rockingham and Mandrah for the day. Such a pretty place, really had a great day. John & Judy arrived back from their trip home, we caught up for drinks, it was great to see them again.
Week Commencing 24.01.11
Monday 24.01.11 – Spent the whole day in bed, John doesn’t like me at all. It is the pits.
Tuesday 25.01.11 – Visit to the doctor, can’t help so I better just get up and keep going, it will improve. Judy bought me some flowers – how sweet she is. They are lovely.
Wednesday 26.01.11 – Australia Day, we had a great day just spent it at the park, John cooked roast lamb and we shared with John & Judy. Jenny & Jason arrive in Perth, spending the night in the city.
Thursday 27.01.11 – Up early, we picked up Jen & Jason and spent the day sightseeing.
Kings Park – Burswood Casino (lunch) – Cottesloe Beach – Hillarys – Scarborough Beach
Friday 28.01.11 – We spent the day at Fremantle, visited Little Creatures a nice brewery. Had lunch and did lots and lots of walking.
Saturday 29.01.11 – A lazy morning and then lunch and a swim at Mulaloo. We then drove down to Scarborough beach for another swim. We weren’t there long and dark clouds rolled in, rushed home as the tent was left open. We took Jen & Jason to dinner at Joondalup.
Sunday 30.01.11 – Off to Rottnest Island for the day. Yes, cyclone Yasi was to hit us today. The day turned out to be beautiful, we all had a fantastic day. John, Jen & Jason hired bikes and I took the Bayseeker bus. We met at Little Salmon Bay and had a swim in the crystal clear water. As the bus came past each half hour, they went off on their bikes and I jumped on the bus and we met up again at Salmon Bay. Once again we had a fantastic swim. I decided to leave the three of them and take the bus tour during the afternoon. The tour turned out to be great, the driver took us all around the island (to places you can’t get to). I saw the little Quokkas, they are so cute. I would recommend if you come to Perth to ensure you make it a must to go to Rottnest.
Week Commencing 31.01.11
Monday 31.01.11 – Time to pack up and leave Perth for the last time. We are sure the van was a little overweight, but off we set heading for Margaret River. We called in a Bunbury for lunch, only a small stop. We arrived at Margaret River and found it was a little chilly. After we set up camp, we had a little time to have a look around town. Only one street, but a really pretty place. I gave Bernie & Bev a call and guess what they were in Margaret River also, so they came over to met the kids and have a couple of beers.
Tuesday 01.2.11 – We took the Wine Tour today, there were only six of us which was really nice.
We visited the following: Stella Bella – Watershed – Leeuwin – Voyager (lunch) – Vasse Felix – Moss Bros – Margaret River Chocolate Factory – Old Cheddar Cheese Factory. Our guide was Mandy and she gave us lots of information about each place before we visited. A great day was had by all.
Wednesday 02.02.11 - Today was a day to sightsee. We went to Lake Cave and did the tour, this was really good. We then headed to the beaches at Prevelly and was not disappointed, we enjoyed a swim, a little chilly. When we got back to camp, Jen and John went for a huge bike ride (they are keen).
Thursday 03.02.11 – We packed up camp and moved to Busselton. As Jason had an ear infection, John took Jen and me up to Cape Naturaliste, we visited Eagle Bluff, Bunker Bay (went swimming) Meelup Beach and the lighthouse. Unfortunately the lighthouse was closed for repairs. We dropped into Dunsborough on the way back. We had a look around Busselton , once again the Jetty was closed for repairs, it was being opened on Saturday after 2 years.
Friday 04.02.11 – Jason & Jenny fly home this evening, so we drove them back to Perth. We stopped at Mandurah for lunch. They both liked it there on the foreshore. We dropped them at this motel and then headed back to Busselton. We got back around 6.30 and then joined Liz & Rod at the local pub for dinner. It was great having the kids over, a very busy time.
Saturday 05.02.11 – John took himself off to golf while I did some washing etc. The Busselton Jetty was being opened this evening and Kate Cebrano was giving a free concert. It was fantastic, she sang for a couple of hours. We had a great time.
Sunday 06.02.11 – As Rod & Liz were holidaying at Busselton, they picked us up and took us on a Beer, Wine tour . We had a fantastic day, lots of laughs. We went to the following places:
Simmo’s Ice Cream – Bush Shack Brewery, Sarcen Winery (lunch), Canal Rocks, Yallingup, and Bootleg brewery.
We finished the day with a nightcap back at camp, a great day had by all.
Week Commencing 07.02.11
Monday 07.02.11 – We met Rod& Liz at the Jetty for our tour. As the tram was not yet up and running we had to walk the 1.8kms to the Observatory which led us down 8mtrs under the Jetty, it was very interesting. The piles were full of all sorts of creatures and live fauna, very pretty. There were lots of fish living there. If you looked through the window which looked away from the Jetty there was no sign of life. Amazing.
We joined Rod & Liz for a Barbie and finally said our farewells and thanks for the lovely weekend, we hope to see them in Brisbane later this year.
Tuesday 08.02.11 to 10.02.11 – We headed off on our huge drive to Yallingup – 28kms. What a pretty spot, settled into camp and then hit the beach. Beautiful clear blue water. A nice sleep in the afternoon. We spent the next three days just lazing around swimming, walks and sleeping. Wonderful.
Friday 11.02.11 & Saturday 12.02.11 – Arrived at Augusta around lunch time, very disappointed with our spot at Turners, rocks everywhere . Set up camp and had some lunch, then drove up to the Lighthouse.
Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is 115 years old , it is the tallest on mainland Australia and sits on the tip of a spectacular peninsula where the Indian and Southern oceans meet. It is surrounded by rolling hills, rocky coastal outcrops and wildflowers. The brilliant white lighthouse makes for stunning photographs. We took the opportunity of taking the tour of this working lighthouse, 176 steps later we were standing on the very top, we were able to walk around outside, fighting the 35kms winds, a great experience. Close by is the old Water Wheel which was constructed in 1895 during the building of the lighthouse when a spring was tapped to provide fresh water for the workers. Having turned to stone it is one of Augusta’s favourite attractions. We visited a beautiful bay called Hamelin Bay, as we started walking along the beach we got speaking to a local who told us some of the history of the place and also about the friendly stingrays. These beautiful stingrays came up to you and let you pat them and they also swim over your feet. Amazing experience, we thought this is great.
Sunday 13.02.11 – A mere 90kms down the road is Pemberton, a pretty village in the Karri Forest. Settled into camp and then off to explore. We decided to follow the Karri Forest Explorer drive, first stop the Gloucester Tree. I watched as John climbed up the 61mtr high Karri Tree. He said it was fantastic, it was alot harder than it looked. We then did a walk through the forest, the trees so high and big, it is an amazing place. We drove over gravel roads to Big Brook Dam, lots of people swimming here. Further along we went from Karri Forest to rolling hills with cattle grazing. Then we came across groves of Avocado trees and Olive trees. We then came across the Beedelup National Park, the park includes dense karri forest, mixed with marri and jarrah, with several beautiful stands of pure marri. Its main attraction is the Beedelup Falls, which drop 100mtrs over a series of steep granite rocks. We had to walk down 100 steps and across a suspension bridge to view the falls. We then set off on the 50min walk to see the walk thru karri tree, this was well worth the long walk which was mostly up hill.
Karri Trees – Karri is WA’s tallest tree and one of the tallest in the world. The famed Gloucester Tree, near Pemberton is a karri. This 60mtr high high giant towers above the surrounding forest. In the past, foresters maintained a fire watch from its lofty crown. Purple coloured lorikeets use their brush tongues to harvest pollen and nectar. They pollinate this and other tall forest trees which have flowers exposed in masses in the upper canopy. Karri grows up to 90 mtrs high and reaches it optimum height within 100 years. Its long straight trunk has smooth bark that is sheds each year. The outer bark changes colour as it matures and the new bark, revealed after the old skin is shed, has a fresh hue, giving rise to the multi-coloured trunk in shades of pink, orange, grey and white. Karri is used as a structural hardwood, providing long lengths of timber. It is very important for honey production.
Week Commencing 14.02.11
Monday 14.2.11 – We drove to Nightcliffe and then onto Windy Harbour, unfortunately it was a beautiful day – no wind. We walked around to Cathedral Beach (this was very pretty). We then found this fantastic beach – Salmon Beach, very very pretty. This area is known as D’Entrecasteaux National Park, it stretches 131kms along the coast. We went for a big walk it was so beautiful. On the way home we visited the Wine Centre and bought a couple of bottles of wine.
Tuesday 15.2.11 – Today was adventure day, we were off to attempt the giant dunes. They call this where the forest meets the ocean. The Prado climbed the dunes with no problems, when we got to the top it was sitting on a plateau of white sand, really nice. We continued on and had lunch at Yeagarup Beach. We had a great day.
Yeagarup Dunes are a series of vast mobile sand dunes which are steadily moving inland swallowing up forest lakes and woodlands as they go.
On the way back to camp we stopped at the co-op and bought 4 marrons for dinner, these guys were live. John was the entertainer at the camp kitchen tonight, he was boiling up his marron. They were very tasty and we shared one of them with our new friends Peter and Eileen. We were amazed that Peter & Eileen had not used the camp kitchen before, they said they had a great time.
Wednesday 16.02.11 – We packed up and said goodbye to Peter & Eileen. Today we are off to Walpole. A mere hour down the road we arrive and set up camp. We quickly do what has to be done and go off on an afternoon of exploring. On the dirt tracks we head off in search of the Giant Red Tingle tree. After a 20min walk we find our tree, take a heap of pics and head off to the Circular Pools. Our next stop was the Valley of the Giants Tree Walk, you walk above the trees on a walkway suspended 40mts high, it sways with the breeze. We both enjoyed this walk and received a certificate to say he had completed the walk. We then drove down to Peaceful Bay which was not peaceful at all, very windy. We continued onto to the Conspicuous Cliffs, now this was a beautiful place, we took the 100 odd steps down to the beach, a very beautiful bay, we were there all alone, wow there are some lovely bays along this part of the world.
Thursday 17.2.11 – Packed up for the big 30min drive to Denmark. Arrived and was very pleased with the park. Had catchup with John & Judy, which was great. Later in the afternoon we went and had drinks at the Coffee Lounge. John & I had a special hot chocolate (special price $8.50 each) anyway it was very nice. We then had drinks with Alex and Allyson from Perth and John cooked us a great dinner of chilli prawns. Very nice
Friday 18.02.11 – John and I took off on the bikes, returning 1.5 hours later. There is a great bike path which took us to the surf beach and then along the lake. Today is a bit overcast.
Saturday 19.02.11 – John played golf at Albany, so I went along for the ride and spent the day with Judy, we had great fun shopping and lunching.
Sunday 20.02.11 – Back to sighting seeing today , more beautiful coastline. About 14kms north of Denmark are the Green Pools this is a bay sheltered from the wind, it is really amazing. Further around you find another bay known as Elephant Cove, named because some rocks look like Elephants. As today was very overcast, the colours were not as outstanding as I would think on a sunny day, still a very impressive place.
